Why Men Are Less Likely to Go Green

Are you constantly picking recyclables out of the trash because someone in your household always forgets to throw it in the correct bin? For a while now it has been asserted that men have a harder time going green than women and a new study has some ideas on why this may be the case.

The Washington Post reports about a new study published in the Journal of Consumer Research attempts to answer the question why men are more apt to avoid taking part in environmentally friendly activities. During the course of a set of experiments conducted by the researchers, they found that again and again people relate environmentally conscious goods and products to femininity.

During a survey some 127 college students, both men and women, reported that they thought of green products as more “feminine” than other products. Researchers also found that when men involved in the study were instructed to shop with fake gift cards for batteries they usually avoided the greener options. Researchers explain the mens’ shopping choices saying, “Self-perceptions of femininity suggest that threats may also influence private behavior.”

Authors of the study found the results pretty clear saying, “Men’s resistance may stem in part from a prevalent association between the concepts of greenness and femininity and a corresponding stereotype (held by both men and women) that green consumers are feminine. As a result of this stereotype, men may be motivated to avoid or even oppose green behaviors in order to safeguard their gender identity.”

But, it seems, green companies are catching on and finding ways to still sell their products to men. BMW recently conducted an experiment and found that men, when shown two version of the same “green” car model were more apt to show interest when it was called the “Protection Model” rather than the “Eco-Friendly Model”. Women, on the other hand, showed the same amount of interest in both models.

What do you think of the study that suggests men are less likely to use or purchase environmentally friendly products?